Atonement
by aslycsi1315
Summary: An unknown caller leaves a chilling message for the Jeffersonian, which is followed by skeletons turning up throughout the city, all linked to Booth's past in the Army. The team has to work fast before the caller makes do on his threat against Booth.
1. Chapter 1

July 21, 2012

"Alright, little man, make me proud," Jack Hodgins said as he placed his son onto the floor of the Jeffersonian lab. Michael Hodgins giggled as he was placed onto his stomach next to Madeline Brennan-Booth, Special Agent Seeley Booth and forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan's daughter. The two month old began drooling while Hodgins sat next to both infants. "Alright, you two," he said, "The race starts here and goes to Dr. B's office. Whoever gets there first, wins this stuffed zebra."

"Jack, what are you doing?" his wife, Angela Montenegro exclaimed as she exited her office. She glared at him as she picked up her son and Madeline.

"I'm not doing anything, babe. I'm just…racing babies," he answered in a shrug.

"You're racing an eleven month year old against a two month year old?" Michael giggled at his father's nervous look.

"Yeah, you are right- Daddy is in trouble. Jack, I leave you with these two for five seconds-"

"I didn't do anything!"

"You better not have," Booth said as he stepped from behind the platform. Angela jumped back and said, "How long were you back there?"

"Not long." He walked over to Angela and picked up his daughter. "You missed Daddy, didn't you? Didn't you?"

"Bren isn't going to like you talking to the baby like that," Angela replied, hoisting Michael up higher onto her hip.

"Well, she isn't here, is she?" he said to his daughter in a baby voice. Angela raised an eyebrow, which caused Booth to stop and respond, "Wait, you aren't going to tell her, are you?"

"I'm not going to tell your pregnant wife of your wrongdoings without any kind of payment, buddy." She started walking towards Brennan's office with an anxious Booth on her tail. Hodgins followed them with a smirk on his face, watching Booth attempt to reason with his wife. It was nice change in pace; the past week had been quite slow for the Jeffersonian.

"I don't know what I want for exchange yet," Angela told Booth as she stepped into Brennan's office. "Maybe money, but maybe a trip or talking to Cam about a raise?"

"I am not going to do that!"

"Do what?" Brennan looked up from her paperwork, curious. Angela walked past the desk and sat down on the couch. "Your husband just spoke baby talk to the infant."

"Seeley! I told you- no infantile dialect to our daughter. It is going to impair her development- we speak to her in normal dialect so she can develop cognitively and her auditory skills. The same goes for the growing fetus in my womb."

Hodgins laughed and leaned against the wall. "Sorry, I can't get used to you two calling each other by your first name."

"Well-" Booth started to say, but was cut off by Brennan, who said, "It will develop Madeline's social skill and knowledge of our nuclear family if we call each other by our first names around the baby and leave the nicknames for work."

"Aww, that's so sweet, I guess. I'm glad she doesn't think her mommy and daddy are names Booth and Bones." Booth held up Madeline and said to her, "No, that's when you get older."

He heard a chorus of chuckles before his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket. "Let's go to Uncle Jack," he said, handing the baby to Hodgins. He answered in a professional tone, "Booth."

"Agent Booth, how good it is to hear your voice after all these years," the caller said. Booth gripped his phone tighter in anger and barked, "Who is this?"

"An old friend; I'm surprised that you don't remember me. "

"What do you want?"

"What I want, you cannot give me, Agent Booth. I will, however, leave you with this: do you remember Afghanistan- you served a seventh month term as a trainer in 2010?"

"Yes, I do. What about it?" Brennan stepped next to him and squeezed his arm in support.

"Do you remember Operation Delta-Fly?"

Booth swallowed and clenched his jaw. "I remember Operation Delta-Fly, why do you ask?"

"Does your wife and two month year old daughter know of your participation in this operation?"

"Listen, if you're a terrorist, get to the point."

"I'm not a terrorist, Agent Booth. I'm actually quite insulted that you would think that. Let's just say that I am here to remind the world about what really happened during that mission. I wonder how Dr. Brennan would feel about the lives that were lost because of you. "

"What do you want?"

"Atonement. Everyone around you is fair game, Agent Booth, including your precious baby girl. There is nothing that you can do to stop this; I will not stop to everyone involved and their loved ones are dead."

The caller hung up, causing Booth to nearly drop his phone in shock. Operation Delta-Fly was on a need to know basis…

"Booth?" Brennan called out softly, touching her husband's cheek. "Who was that?"

"I don't'-I don't." Suddenly Cam Saroyan appeared at the door and closed the door. She wiped a tear before stiffing her manner and saying, "I just received a call from D.C Metro…..there was a shooting outside a café a mile from here." She sniffled and wiped another tear from her face. "Seeley is there something you want to tell me?" she suddenly cried out.

"Cam, what happened?" Angela asked worriedly.

"Wendell and Daisy were getting coffee and-"Angela suddenly her hands to her mouth and screamed, "No!"

"Wendell and Daisy….they're dead." Brennan closed her eyes and let out a sad sigh; Hodgins crossed his arms and asked, "What? How did this happen?"

Cam ignored his question and looked Booth in the eye. "Is there something that you want to tell me, Seeley?"

Booth held his daughter close to his chest and asked, "Cam, what aren't you telling me?"

"After the shooting, a blue van with no plates drove by and dumped skeletal remains onto the street. There was a dog tag on the body for a Corporal Jeff Galston and a note."

"What did the note say?"

"_He caused the deaths of one hundred and twenty Afghan girls. Now he has atoned for past mistakes. Sergeant Kyle Matheson, Private George Yale, and FBI Agent Seeley Booth are next. Go Delta-Fly_."

"What is he talking about?" Brennan asked. Cam suddenly marched over to him and asked through tears, "Seeley, what exactly did you do in Afghanistan for seven months?"


	2. Chapter 2

Café Silo, Washington D.C

Brennan slowly slid out of the SUV and closed the vehicle door behind her. She glanced over to the yellow crime scene that was surrounded by bystanders and D.C Metro police. Next to an officer's feet, she could see a body wrapped in plastic with a dog chain wrapped around the top of it. Brennan quickly assumed that it was Colonel Gaston.

"D.C Metro tried to follow the van through as many CCTV cameras as possible, but could only follow it to 21st & Washington on the outskirts of the city," Booth said as he walked over to her. "Bones, what's wrong?"

Brennan shifted her stance and answered softly, " I realize that your time in the army was done for the government's request and done to save lives. I'm just concerned for the sake of our daughter and future child. "

"I know and I'll tell you everything soon. We need to get the scene looked through first." He walked over to D.C Metro police and began talking; Brennan could not hear what they were saying. Even after he returned from Afghanistan, he had never said much to her about what he did. In her mind, it was rationalized that his girlfriend at the time, Hannah, had more reason to know than she did, so she had let it go. Now, it was two years later; they had a daughter and another child on the way- why hadn't he said anything?

A navy blue Toyota pulled up behind her and parked, a very distressed Angela emerging from the driver's seat. She dashed to Brennan's side and gripped her arm as she searched for Wendell and Daisy's bodies.

"Ange, are you sure you want to do this?" Brennan asked.

"I just need to see them. Just like how you need to see it to believe it, right now so do I."

"Let me go first," Brennan said. She stepped over to crime scene tape and glanced around, half hoping that Cam was wrong. After a few seconds, she spotted Wendell and Daisy lying next to tables, each still wearing their Jeffersonian ID badge. Brennan took a breath and turned to Angela, who immediately understood from the look on Brennan's face. She kneeled down behind the car and began to weep silently.

"Bones, the body," Booth said, pointing to the plastic wrapped skeleton. She knelt next to it and began to analyze the body as best she could. Booth watched his wife work silently for two minutes before she stood and said, " Decomp looks to be consistent with death occurring about four days ago. It's definitely a male, but I can't know for sure about anything else until I bring the body back to the lab."

"Are you okay?" Booth asked. Brennan composed herself and said, " I'm alright; Miss Wicks and Mr. Bray will be missed." Before Booth could say anything else, she walked back to the vehicle where Angela stood, staring aimlessly into space.

"Ange?" Angela blink before she said, " I'm alright, Brenn," in a shaky voice. "Are we heading back to the lab?"

"Yes- the plastic wrapped skeletal remains need to be processed at the lab."

"Is it safe?"

"What do you mean?"

Angela wiped a tear from her cheek, causing her mascara to smear. "Whoever did this has a serious vendetta against Booth. I love Booth to death, but do I need to leave town? I don't want my son or my goddaughter to be parentless. "

"If something was wrong, I think Booth would tell us. Ange, I have to go and look at the body," Brennan said. She could see Booth turn to crime techs and tell them, "Get this back to the lab ASAP."

"Booth!" she called to him, "Is DC Metro taking Miss Wick and Mr. Bray to their coroner's office?"

"Yeah,…Bones, someone is going to head to the house and grab a few things- we're going to stay at the lab for a few days until this blows over. I need you to tell Angela, Sweets, and Cam to do the same. We'll be safer there than at home. Ok?"

"Is there something that you aren't telling me?"

"Bones, I'll tell you everything once we're all at the lab. Just do that for me-Ok?" Brennan immediately felt an uneasy feeling- Booth had a look filled with terror and anxiousness. There was something big that he wasn't telling her-something dangerous.

Jeffersonian Lab- Two Hours Later

"Is he alright?" Angela asked as she stood next to Brennan on the platform. Next to Brennan's office, Booth was pacing back and forth, muttering something inaudible into his phone. Brennan bit her lip and said, "I don't know. I do know that as his wife, I need to trust him, regardless of any uneasy feelings I may feel."

"I get that, but the fact that we all have to stay here is troublesome to me. Even when Brodsky was terrorizing the city, I thought that the lab was safe, but Vincent was still killed. Brennan, you have to say something to him- I am scared for my life right now!"

Brennan swallowed and placed the femur that was in her hand back onto the table. "Alright, I'll ask him." She stepped off the platform and approached Booth, but suddenly heard a yell come from the lab entrance. A FBI agent staggered in with Sweets, who was limping behind him. Both had blood, cuts, and bruises covered all over their bodies. Angela gasped as Brennan asked, "What happened?"

"Someone tried to drive us off the road after we went to my house to get a few things, " Sweets said. Booth closed his cell phone and sprinted over to the injured psychologist's side After helping Sweets sit on the ground, he asked, "Someone tried to kill you?"

The injured FBI Agent sat down behind Sweets as he said, "Yeah, I grabbed clothes, some files, and a few books. We then went on one of the side streets and suddenly a guy comes out of nowhere with a large SUV and tries to ram us into the ditches. He kind of succeeded when the car flipped over twice. We had to call a cop to get a ride back here."

"Dammit," Booth cursed. His phone suddenly rang again while Cam and her daughter stepped out from Cam's office, confused.

"You're kidding," Booth said. He hung up and started running towards the entrance of the lab. Brennan called after him, but he disappeared around the corner of the entrance. Angela growled in annoyance and spat, " I love Booth dearly, sweetie, but he's hiding something. You call him now for an explanation or I will go digging into his past myself!"

Brennan sighed and thought, _Booth, what are you hiding from me?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Because I will be leaving the country on Friday and won't have much access to internet, this will be the last posting of this story until around New Year's Day. I hope everyone has a great holiday! Thanks!**

Booth stepped into the café and quickly scanned the room for any familiar faces. For midday, the café was unusually quiet; Martha, the waitress, a young couple, and a mother with two kids were the only ones in the café. Booth sat down at a small table and pulled out his cell phone. The phrase' 4 Missed Calls' made Booth feel guilty. He had been gone for twenty five minutes and he could only assume it to be from Brennan. She was probably worried sick about him….

"Seeley," he heard come from behind him. Private George Yale was standing behind him, a tired expression hiding behind a grin. Booth extended his hand out to him and said, "Yale, how have you been? I got your message."

"Yeah," the man grunted, taking a seat at small table next to them. "I heard on the news about what had happened to Galeston and…he was a good guy."

"Yeah, I know. Wait, what was so important? You said that there was an emergency!"

"Yeah," Yale sighed and waved over a waitress. After ordering two beers, Yale continued, "I think whoever that son of a bitch who called you is, tried to kill me last night."

"What?" Booth exclaimed, nearly drawing everyone in the diner's attention. "What the hell does this guy want? We did what we were told to do- all for the greater good. Plus, barely anyone knows about Operation Delta Fly. It was on a need-to-know basis!"

"I don't know, Seeley. Bastard tried to jump me while walking home. He almost got me too, but a couple walked past and he disappeared- damn near vanished, really."

"We got to figure this out and I can't tell you everything, but George, he knows everything about Delta Fly. He even knows about what happened at the school." It was one of the things that never left him, one of the more destructive things he had seen overseas. There were many times where he wanted to talk to Brennan about it, but he feared that if she knew the truth…

"That sounds like a good solider gone bad." Yale took a sip of his beer before Booth blurted out, "Did we do the right thing?"

"We did exactly what we were supposed to do, Seeley."

"I know, but morally-did we do the right thing?"

Yale chuckled. "Marriage is screwing with your head. The man I had fought with wouldn't be doubting his decision."

"I was stupid then. I have a 12 year old, an infant, and a child on the way. I can't be irrational anymore." Booth took a gulp of his drink, his thoughts going back to Brennan and his children.

"I know that this might violate all that FBI rules and crap, but is there anyway I could take a listen? He's got to be high up to be or was with us when Delta Fly went down to be able to access that kind of information. Maybe I could recognize his voice."

"Alright, but we have to make it quick. The Bureau knows that this guy is interested in us, so we need to tread lightly." Booth placed four singles onto the table. He tried to stand up, but Yale grabbed his arm and sat him down.

"Seeley," he said in a low whisper, "If we find this guy, we're going to have to clean up this mess ourselves, you know."

"George, this isn't a spy movie. We arrest him and we're all in the clear."

"Seeley, this guy is pissed, nuts, and ready for revenge. Not even just that, this also goes into some high up national security crap that's going to come to light that some people don't want the nation to know about. This will get ugly."

"Well? Anything?" Angela demanded. Next to her, Sweets noticed Michael becoming more irritated at his mother's tone. He pulled the infant off of Angela's hip as Brennan answered, "No. He still didn't pick up."

"Ok, that's it. I'm going to find out what the hell Operation Delta- Fly is." She stormed into her office and pulled up Google on her computer known as the Angelatron.

"You're going to Google it?" Sweets asked.

"Hey, a girl's gotta start somewhere." She typed 'Operation Delta Fly' into the search bar and instantly pulled up only two sites. "That's really weird…..only two sites?"

"It's best we get a conspiracy expert on this," Sweets joked. Brennan gave him a confused look. "Who?"

"Hodgins." He turned and whispered to Michael, " Let's go find Daddy, huh?"

After Sweets found Hodgins, Angela pulled up the more professional looking site of the two. It had pictures on the main page; one had pictures of dead girls lying in a classroom. Brennan felt more sick to her stomach the more she looked at the pictures. _Booth, please tell me you didn't do what I'm starting to think you did_ …..

"Umm….well, it says here that it took place in the July during Booth's stay-" Suddenly, the screen went blank. Angela tapped her keyboard twice nervously, praying that the screen would come back on. Brennan turned around and saw three FBI agents standing nearly the platform of the lab. One of them raised his hand and motioned for them to come to them. Hodgins' eyes widened in shock and excitement, "Obviously, someone doesn't want us to look into this! Let's go see what they are covering."

Hodgins stepped out of the office with a smug expression. "Can I help you boys?"

One of the agents glared at Hodgins while the other two marched past him and into Angela's office. Seconds later, Angela, Sweets, and Brennan were being escorted out of the office and taken to the platform. Cam stepped out of the office with Michael on one side of her hip and Madeline on the other. As soon as she saw the agents, she quickly stepped back into her office, nearly unnoticed.

"My name is Agent Browning. I ordered your computer to be hacked and shut down as soon as you started to search for Operation Delta-Fly."

Angela put her hands on the platform table and asked in a sweet, yet anger filled tone. "Why exactly is that, may I ask?"

"National security."

Hodgins burst out into laughter, saying, "That's the best you have? Oldest trick in the book."

"I'm only going to say this once: You all are to cease and desist on any searches on Operation Delta Fly," Agent Browning barked, " Any further investigations and you will all go to jail. That's an order."

"So what are we supposed to do? Sit here and wait for the caller to find us and kill us?" Hodgins exclaimed, earning a light nudge from Cam.

"We will catch this man, but as civilians the best that you can do is work on the skeletons that were dumped?"

"Skeletons?" Brennan stood up and thought, _What? We haven't even finished the first one yet!_

"Yes, another skeleton was discovered was found along with another dead civilian."


	4. Chapter 4

__**Author's Note: Have a safe and fun New Year's! **

_This is going to get ugly?_

_Yale was always a weird guy, but what did he mean by that? _

The last words Yale had told him continued to swirl in Booth's head as he stepped into the lab. He could see his wife working on the platform with Hodgins, working as if nothing was wrong. For a moment, he though that he could walk in and there would be no questions; he wasn't ready to explain to all of them about Delta Fly.

Saddly, he was wrong.

The moment Angela spotted him from her office, she marched towards him and exclaimed, "You tell us right now about Delta Fly, Booth!"

He put his hands up in defense. "Angela, I know that your'e freaking out-"

"Freaking out! Booth, that is an understatement! Some lunatic is running around the city and we have to live in the freaking lab! I am way past freaking out!" In the midst of Angela's rant, Booth spotted that there were now two skeletons on the ramp. He stepped away from her and asked, "Another body?"

"You didn't know?" Brennan asked curiously. She stepped off the platform with Hodgins right behind her. "What was the phone call about?"

_Crap._ "Nothing really important." He barely had enough time to finish the sentence before Angela lunged at him. Hodgins quickly pulled his wife back as she yelled, "I am sick with the lying! Two of our friends are dead and it'll probably be more unless we know exactly what we are dealing with!"

She pushed herself from Hodgins' arms. "Tell us what happened."

Booth swallowed nervously, seeing all eyes on him. Brennan stood the furthest back with her foot still on the platform stairwell. She seemed fearful towards him; Booth wasn't sure if it was towards him personally or to what might come out of his mouth. His friends deserved the truth; Daisy and Wendell deserved better than this.

"Ok, I'll tell you, but please don't get angry with me." Angela's expression quickly turned from anger to instant worry. Booth motioned to Brennan's office, "Can we talk in there?"

Brennan nodded and headed towards the office, regardless of what Booth's answer was. She had feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Once all in the office, Booth spoke up quietly, his voice slightly wavering, "Operation Delta-Fly was a need to know mission in southern Afghanistan while I was away. There were eleven guys on the mission-"

"Why were you there? You went to train, not fight, right?" Hodgins asked from his spot between Angela and Cam.

"They needed someone with sniper experience, someone who could make sure that the mission was a success. The only person that knew about this was us , a general, and the Chief Joints of Staff."

"What was the mission about?"

Booth swolled hard, a large lump growing in his throat. This was the part that scared him, the part that he knew would end many friendships and possibly his marriage to Brennan. "The mission….the mission involved raiding a location that we believed Al-Qaeda used to harbor weapons. We were sent there to raid the building…..and take down whoever we came across. My job was the keep eyes out from an adjacent building." He wiped a single tear from his cheek and started taping his foot as a way to distract himself from the mix of guilt, fear, and sadness he felt.

"What happened?" Cam asked.

"We went in and did our jobs. Many of- we did our jobs and a few weeks later, I got the call from you to come back to D.C."

Brennan squeezed Booth's hand. "What was the building that you and your men had to raid, Booth?"

He closed his eyes and whispered, "A girl's elementary school."

No one spoke for what seemed like to Booth ,forever. Hodgins suddenly broke the silence by standing up and exclaiming, "Are you freaking kidding me?"

Booth opened his eyes and looked up to his friend. "I didn't kill anyone! I could never kill a child!"

"But you were there! Booth-I- I thought you were a good man! How the hell-" Hodgins growled in anger before stomping out of the office. Angela sat still on the chair before slowly standing and walking towards the door. Booth called out to her, "Angela?"

"Five minutes," she stammered, "I need five minutes, Booth. I need to process-five minutes." She walked out leaving Booth alone with Sweets, Cam, and Brennan. Booth turned to his wife, who had a calm stoic expression. "Bones?"

"I understand that- I understand that you did what you had to do to protect this country, including our children." Booth let out a sigh of relief, but Brennan added, " But what I don't understand is why you felt that you had to hide this from me."

"I didn't think you'd understand."

_I know I'm different emotionally, but I'm beginging to become sick of those words coming from my husband's mouth. _"Well if you would have explained it to me like you just did, I would have understood. Excuse me, " she stood up angrily, "the second skeleton is here and I need to go and process it."

_I'm screwed..._"Cam?"

Can pointed to the skeletons in the lab. "I should join Dr. Brennan. She stood and opened her mouth to say something, but quickly changed her mind. Once Cam left, Sweets said" Agent Booth-"

"No mumbo jumbo right now kid."_I shouldn't be so hard on him, especially since Delta-Fly led to the death of Daisy._

"I want to help you catch this guy. He has taken an act of violence done for the greater good and warped it. I know you're a good man, Agent Booth. You're strong and you don't have an ounce of anything of that would push you to kill children, regardless of what the Joint Chief of Staffs wants. "

Booth stared at him, showing his confusion. "So what do I do then?"

"You fight for your family, bad."

"OK, ok.," _I need to fix this; I should have ended it a long time ago_. Booth put his hands on his thighs and started to make an attack plan.

"I'd start with getting the remaining members into protective custody," Sweets suggested. Booth nodded and pulled out his cellphone with his mind racing.

"Agent Booth?"

Booth hesitantly looked up to the psychologist. "Yeah?"

"It's going to be alright." To Booth, Sweets' comment and the look in eyes didn't seem to match up. The young psychologist took a breath and said, "I'll see if I can get Angela to look into Delta-Fly more and help us with computer issues."

Sweets started towards the office entrances and could feel Booth watching him hesitantly. Booth quickly glanced over to the platform where he could see Brennan and Cam working on the skeletons. Both seemed terribly distracting to him.

"I'm sorry," Booth suddenly called out, half hoping that Sweets heard it. "I didn't want anyone to die because of me."

"I know," Sweets answered softly. He quickly left, leaving the FBI agent alone in the room.


	5. Chapter 5

On the platform in the lab, Brennan was so engrossed in her thoughts that she picked up little information from the skeleton sitting before her eyes. Cam, who usually hummed while working, tended quietly to the paperwork for both skeletons behind her. The silence was so frightening; she expected another shatter or crack to echo through the room like it did right before a bullet killed an intern.

"Anything?" Cam asked, without looking up from the papers. Besides a photo, she had nothing to positively identify the body to be Matheson. She had no idea that Yale was still alive and had met with Booth.

Brennan raised her head from the skeleton. "There are cervical fractures on both skeletons, the first more so than the second."

Cam pulled the list of people on Booth's team. " Well, this first one is Galston. He was 25 with five years in the army. It looks like the killer had to break their necks in order to kill them. That's military, special ops military training, right there. And if," she pointed to the second skeletal remains, located behind Brennan, " this is Matheson, who apparently was lighter than Galston, It explains the deeper fractures on Galston's remains. The killer would have to put more pressure on Galston, since he was bigger than Matheson. It was like the killer kept hit hitting his chin based on that mark that I can see," She pointed to small bruising on the bone of the chins, " while he broke their necks. Plus what we found on cause of death, both men were killed about three weeks ago."

"Why wait so long? Also, how could you carry two skeletons around without drawing attention to himself? I found no evidence of these skeletons being buried."

"I have absolutely no idea."

Brennan straightened up when she saw Booth and Sweets leave the office in the corner of her eye. Cam watched her carefully before suggesting, "Go talk to him."

"I'm not so sure," she answered, pulling off her gloves and placing her hands onto the table. "I love him so much, but I'm frightened that I'll find more about Booth that'll destroy our marriage."

"Well, Dr. Brennan, that's marriage. You both have been through worse, much worse."

"I know, but…..you seemed angry with Booth when you came up here to help me. What are you going to do?"

"Well, it's different for me versus you. I'm a friend and you're his wife. I'm allowed to be angry and not speak to him for a few days before getting over it and going out to get a beer. You…I don't see Seeley without you. Go talk to him."

"I'll do that," Brennan said as she pulled off her gloves, "My marriage is becoming a distraction from my work at the moment, anyway. I haven't found more than what I've told within the past forty minutes." She stepped off the platform and dialed Booth's number. After two rings, it went straight to voicemail.

She sighed and placed her phone in her pocket. _He's ignoring me._

Five miles away from the lab, Booth pulled his vehicle to a halt in a small neighborhood where Yale lived. After forty minutes of silent planning, he along with Sweets decided that it would be best to get Yale into some form of protective custody. He was a stubborn man just like Booth, so the agent prepared himself for a bit of a fight.

He stepped out of the vehicle at the same time that Sweets, who was speaking to someone on his phone, got out of the car. The young psychologist placed a hand on the roof of the car as he said, "Yeah….yes…..thanks Chris, I really appreciate this…I will. Bye."

"Who was that?" Booth asked. He walked towards Yale's townhouse, the largest one on the block.

"I have a friend over at the Pentagon that's looking up any super secret information on Delta-Fly. So far he found a CNN reporter listed to be in the vicinity at the same time that you guys raided the school. My guy is trying to get a hold of her as we speak."

"Why are you trying to contact her?"

"I think someone saw what you guys did and didn't take lightly to it. It may also be someone high up in the Pentagon, but we needed to start small before we take down the big guys." Booth instantly felt a ping of guilt at Sweets' tired eyes; it was a look of someone who had lost everything.

"You sure you up for this?" Booth asked him softly, hoping not to offend Sweets. The psychologist muttered, "I'm fine," before starting up the stairs to Yale's apartment. His tone was much angrier than it had been before. Sweets rapped his knuckles against Yale's door and called, "Private Yale? This is the FBI! Open up!"

_We should have called. _Booth approached the door and yelled, "Yale! It's me, Booth! Open up!"

No response made both men tense up. Any other day would have been understandable, but not today.

Booth pulled out his firearm and stepped in front of Sweets. His eyes darted back to Sweets, who was holding his firearm close to his chest. For the first time in almost a year, Booth was happy that the young man was certified to carry a weapon.

Booth turned the knob of the front door and found it to be unlocked. He pushed it open with his foot and stepped into the townhouse. The foyer and living room were nearly empty, reminding Booth of Yale's heightened paranoia. Nothing seemed out of place or missing and there was not a sound in the town house.

"I'll look in the kitchen," Sweets whispered. He walked into the small white kitchen before calling back, "Agent Booth, I found him." At the sight of the psychologist holstering his firearm, Booth instantly understood- Yale was dead.

Booth stepped into the kitchen where Sweets stood with a gaze fixed on Yale. The private lay on his back with what appeared to be a broken neck, just like the other two bodies. The barely audible music from the earphones still in Yale's ears showed that whenever this had happened, it had been done recently and Yale had not seen it coming.

"I'll call the lab techs," Booth stated. He turned, half expecting to see Sweets in some form of shock, but found the man staring, eyes locked on Yale. " Sweets, maybe you should head back to the lab….get some sleep-"

"I'm alright, Agent Booth." Sweets' phone rang and he promptly answered it while stepping out of the room. Before Booth could even kneel to start examining the body, Sweets reentered the room with an excited look in his eyes. "My guy at the Pentagon just found something big! We need to get back to the lab ASAP!"

"You can go. I'll stay on the scene for awhile-"

"Two things about that, Agent Booth. One- you are the only name left on a hit list so you need to be with someone at all times and two- you need to be there. He was able to find that CNN reporter and she wants to skype us at the lab. She thinks she knows who the killer is."


	6. Chapter 6

Within ten minutes, Booth and Sweets walked into the entrance of the lab and spotted a brunette holding a camera while speaking with Angela. As soon as the woman spotted Booth, she started marching towards him, yelling, "You bastard!"

_Whoa, where did this come from?_ "Ma am-" Booth started to say, but stopped when the woman slapped him across the face. "You killed those children! You animal!"

Sweets gently pushed her back and said, " He didn't do it, ma am-"

"How can you be so sure?" The woman glared into Sweets' eyes, "Ms. Montenegro informed that some of Agent Booth's friends got killed because of him!" She took a step forward to slap him; Booth stepped back, cowering slightly behind Sweets. This woman was the one thing that could save his life and marriage.

"That's true," Sweets told her, "I lost my girlfriend…..we need your help in identifying anyone else that could have seen the raid on the school. Everyone else involved in that raid is dead. Don't do it for Agent Booth or the other men in that squad, do it for the two interns and the many more lives that could be lost if we can't catch this man."

The woman hesitated before dropping her shoulders. "Ok. I'll do it."

"Thank you. What's your name?"

The woman's accent gave away that she was Middle Eastern. "Alia Mali. I'm the on sight reporter for the Middle East, mainly the war in Afghanistan."

"Ok…did you- let's sit in one of the offices and you can tell me what you saw." Alia nodded, her eyes glued on Booth. She caught a glimpse of his wedding band and snapped, "You're married? To who?"

"To me," Brennan called out from her office, Madeline on her hip. "I'm very happy with him." Booth shot her a thankful look, but Brennan glanced away. She returned her attention back to Alia. "What did you see that day?"

"I saw a lot of things, including your husband storming a building full of children."

"What about outside the building? What did the area look like?" Angela asked.

"It was a small Afghani village- not a lot of people. At the time of the raid, it was noon and everyone was inside getting lunch, working,-stuff like that. I had gone out to get some landscape shots- people always like that sort of stuff. Anyway, I stepped outside and I catch the Army boys sneaking into the school through the fire entrance. "

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say? They had guns and I didn't want to walk in there and get shot!" Alia's right hand tightened into a fist with her eyes still locked on Booth. "The next thing I heard was gunshots and I ran. I booked a first class ticket out of that place within the hour and came home."

"You didn't fully answer the question, Ms. Malia," Brennan stated, "Was there anyone outside with you when the attack occurred?"

Alia closed her eyes and sighed as if she was playing the day back through her mind on tape. "There was an Afghani solider walking towards one of the restaurants. He acted as if he hadn't noticed the American soldiers sneaking into the building, but…..when I turned to run for it, he stood frozen in shock with tears running down his face. I caught a last name on his uniform- Dehi. D-E-H-I. "

"I'll see what I can find on him," Angela said before returning back to her office. Sweets shook Alia's hand. "Thank you for your help. I can't stress how helpful you've been."

"Of course. I'm sorry for your loss," Alia told Sweets before shooting another glare at Booth. Hodgins gently showed her to the lab entrance. "I'll walk you out."

Once Hodgins and Alia left the lab, Booth turned to Sweets and asked, "Kid, are you angry with me?"

With a blank look, Sweets responded calmly, "No, Agent Booth. I'm not angry."

"Sweets, I can see that you're pissed! Come on, you want to scream? Yell? Do it! I deserve every last piece of it!"

Sweets turned his back on Booth before turning back around and in an angry yet calm tone said, "Agent Booth, you had the choice to tell those men to stop. You're very highly ranked and appreciated in the army- those men would have stopped. Unfortunately, you cowered and let them massacre little girls, which now has left you standing in the cold with Wendell and my Daisy's deaths hanging over your head." Before Booth could respond, Sweets marched off to Cam's office.

Twenty minutes later, Angela stuck her head out of her office and saw Booth still standing in the spot that she had last seen him in. "Booth, I found Dehi."

"Um, ok. Where is he?" Booth asked in a very quiet, childlike voice.

"He landed in the United States days before the first killing. Based on his cell records, he's in DC. I'm going to go get Cam." She walked past him, allowing him the opportunity to walk into her office where he saw a picture of Dehi and his information. He spotted the man's cell number and dialed it into his phone. _I need to make things right, _he thought before walking towards the lab doors. Once into the hallway, he dialed Dehi and listened for a response.

"Agent Booth, it's about time," he heard after two rings. It was the same snide voice that had called him with the threat days earlier.

"Dehi, I have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening."

"You want me to atone for what I did then I'll do it. We can meet somewhere and you can do whatever you want to me. I deserve it- I should have done something in Afghanistan."

"Interesting…what's the catch?"

"You leave my wife, my children, and my friends at the Jeffersonian alone."

Dehi paused before letting out a malicious laughter. "I like the way you think, Agent Booth. You saved me a lot of trouble. You will be coming alone, I assume?"

"Yes, once you're done, you can leave the country and move on with your life. Name the place and I'll be there."

"Good, but I'd say goodbye to your wife if I were you, because when I'm done with you, you'll be dead."


	7. Chapter 7

"Ok, so I found Dehi and he's in the city," Angela told Brennan as they walked back to Angela's office five minutes later. Brennan had been entertaining the children with Hodgins the best that she could, while trying hard not to go crazy out of worry for Booth.

"I have a trace on his-where's Booth?" Angela exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. Brennan eyed her in confusion as Angela's head whipped around the lab. "Where'd he go?"

"Angela, he was standing right here?"

"Yes and had very sad puppy eyes…Booth?" Angela called out. "Booth!"

It took less than a second before Brennan realized what her husband had done.

"Ange-Ange, I don't think he's here. Was the number displayed on the screen?"

Angela's eyes widened. "Yeah, as soon as I had found it, I went to find you."

"Ange, he's heart broken and feels guilty. I know Booth- he probably went after Dehi. Alone." Brennan sprinted into Angela's office and looked at the computer screen where she found a picture of Dehi. Angela picked up her keyboard and started typing away.

"I'm way ahead of you, sweetie. I'll track his cell and we'll find the both of them."

Six blocks away, Booth stood at an intersection, waiting for a phone call from Dehi. The man had sent a text directing Booth to wait at that intersection until getting further instructions. It had only been ten minutes, but it felt like forever to Booth.

_Buzz. _At the vibration from his pocket, Booth pulled out his cell phone and saw the number to be Dehi's. He hesitated before answering, "Hello?"

"Drop your cellphone in a nearby trashcan and head to the address I'm going to text you," Dehi directed, "You have twenty minutes or I will come after your wife and children."

"Alright, I'll be there." Dehi hung up before Booth could say another word. The agent sighed and glanced around the street, no passerbys saying or noticing his antsy behavior. _There's nowhere that I could leave a message for Brennan…unless….._

Booth opened his cellphone and started writing a text: _I'm going after Dehi- I need to fix this. The address is in the pone. I'm sorry and I love you- Booth._

After muttering a quick prayer, he saved it in the drafts and dropped the cell phone into a nearby trash can. With hands in his pocket, Booth started the short walk over to the address Dehi had sent him, ready for the final showdown.

Back at the lab, it only took a minute to track Booth's cell. Brennan wrote down the address and sprinted out the lab with Hodgins and Sweets right behind her. They arrived at the intersection that Booth once stood in and only found a few people dining at a café, two stores, and two trash cans.

"He's not here!" Brennan exclaimed, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. Hodgins and Sweets quickly scanned the area before Sweets dialed Booth's phone. The Charlie Brown ringtone Booth had chosen for his phone started ringing from one of the trash cans. Not caring what she touched, Brennan stuck her hand in the trash and felt around for the cell phone. She pulled her hand out once her fingers wrapped around the small black phone. "I got it!"

She flipped open the screen and found the text message on the screen, ready to be sent. "He has an address on the phone…..26th and 4th Street?"

"I know where that is!" Sweets exclaimed, "I'll drive!"

**26****th**** and 4****th****, Washington D.C**

"You had the choice to stop it! My sister died in that school!" Dehi yelled after giving Booth a knee to the stomach. After the agent willfully came to the small abandoned warehouse, Dehi had beaten him and tied him to a chair on the top floor of the building. Dehi was nervous; Booth didn't seem like the person to abide by a suspect's demands like this without an infantry close behind.

If he was going to kill this man, he needed to do it soon.

Booth groaned and grunted, "I told them to stand down, but they wouldn't listen! I know I should have done more and I'm sorry for your loss-"

"Enough! There's always a choice! My sister is dead because of you and your men!" Dehi pushed the chair down to the ground, causing Booth to hit his head. "They atoned for what they did and now it's your turn."

**Two blocks from 26****th**** and 4****th ****Street**

"We'll get him, Dr. Brennan! I promise!" Hodgins told the frantic anthropologist as Sweets sped down the street towards the warehouse. Once there, the car swerved into the parking lot and screeched to a halt before Sweets, Brennan, and Hodgins jumped out.

"Whoa, wait- we can't just run in there! Only one of us has a gun! We'll get killed!" Hodgins exclaimed. Brennan walked past him and stated, "My husband is in there! I'm going in and you guys can come with me or not, your choice."

She took off into the building; Sweets hesitantly exchanged looks with Hodgins before both took off after Brennan. On the first floor, Brennan quickly scanned the empty floor before hearing a scream come from above her head.

"You worthless piece of crap!" Dehi had screamed at Booth before kicking Booth in the side and giving the agent two punches to the mouth. Dehi then pulled out a knife and jammed it into Booth's abdomen. After the agent screamed, Dehi smiled at the color leaving Booth's face.

_Finally! They've all paid for what they've done! Now finish this. _Dehi pushed the knife as far as he could into Booth; he was so focused in what he was doing that he didn't hear the footsteps come from the stairwell. Booth's eyes began to flutter before both men heard, "No!"

Brennan ran towards Dehi and Booth, but stopped when Dehi yelled, "Stay back! Let me finish what I started! Let him die!"

"Please, give me my husband!" Brennan cried out to Dehi. Booth continued to struggle to get out breaths. "I love him and you can't let me or his children!"

Dehi pointed a finger at Brennan. "He has to pay for what he did to my sister!"

"By punishing me as well? That isn't rational-"

"Rational? I am quite rational, Dr. Brennan. I am doing what my sister would have wanted me to do!" Dehi grabbed Booth by the shoulders, but froze when the faint noise of police sirens became louder and louder.

"I will kill-"Dehi suddenly froze and let go of Booth. The Afghani solider swallowed before collapsed to the floor, a small bullet hole suddenly appearing in his neck. Behind Brennan, Sweets lowered his gun and sighed. Hodgins patted Sweets on the back and said, "We just made it. Nice shot, man."

Brennan gave Sweets a thankful smile before running to her husband's side and pulling him into her arms.

"No, no- Booth, look at me!" Brennan whispered as she held him tightly. Booth's eyes fluttered as he gasped, "I-I-I'm so-sorry." At the stairwell, Hodgins and Sweets directed police officers and paramedics to where they were.

"NO, don't you dare leave me! Don't you dare! I love you!"

As two paramedics kneeled behind her, Sweets grabbed Brennan's shoulders and gently pulled her up. "Let them do their jobs. Come on…"

_Don't leave us, _Brennan thought as she allowed Sweets to pull her back. _Don't. _

**St. Raines Medical Center- Washington D.C**

Brennan sat in the waiting room with her head on Sweets' shoulder. After paramedics had taken Booth to the hospital, surgeons had admitted him into surgery for his stab wound. Three hours later, Brennan, Angela, Sweets, and Hodgins all sat in the waiting room with no word from surgeons on Booth's status. Cam and her daughter had stayed with the children at the lab.

Brennan twisted her wedding ring in a complete circle before looking up to the surgery wing entrance. She wiped away a tear before the door opened and a young, dark haired surgeon stepped outside.

"Family of Agent Booth?"

"Your husband survived the surgery," the surgeon said softly, amongst gasps of relief and happiness. "He's stable and we believe that there should be no complications. We'd like to monitor him right now so I can only let you in, Dr. Brennan."

Brennan nodded. "Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much."

**Room 24**

"Booth?" Brennan called out as she entered Booth's room. He was lying on his back with his gaze locked on the slowly rotating ceiling fan above his head. Amongst the wires hooked between machines and her husband, Brennan could see a bandage on Booth's side where he had been stabbed. Booth said nothing until Brennan touched his ankle.

"He was right, you know," Booth whispered. Brennan cocked her head and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I should have done more."

"No, look at me," she squeezed his hand, "Did you do everything that you could to stop those men? "

"I guess…I told them to stand down and they just kept on firing."

"Then you have nothing that you need to atone for. Dehi was only a delusional, grieving man that lost control." She placed a hand on his head and whispered, "It's over."

He nodded and touched her arm. "Are we ok? I understand if you'd want some time away from me-"

"I'm not leaving- I was hurt that you felt that you didn't need to tell me, but…..we'll get through this- the trust between us has to be rebuilt." Brennan smiled when Booth nodded, yawned, and closed his eyes.

"Get some rest, Booth," she told him. She then noticed that the agent was already asleep.

"I love you," Brennan whispered into his ear. She gently placed his hand back on the bed and laid her head down onto the bed. Within a minute, the forensic anthropologist fell asleep next to her husband, both at peace.

**-The End-**


End file.
